Wringer



C. B. OLSEN WRINGER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 26, 1962 III D mm mm mm om mm 5 Q mm Q X A @m l l .m m /r m f B Q E O N INVENTOR. CLEO B. OLSEN AT TO RN EYS Jan. 26, 1965 c. B. OLSEN 3,165,925

WRINGER Filed Oct. 26, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 (ii Q INVENTOR.

CLEO B. OLSEN ATTORNEYS C. B. OLSEN Jan. 26, 1965 WRINGER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 26, 1962 47 FIG-6 INVENTOR B.

OLSEN CLEO ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,166,925 WRINGER Cleo B. Olsen, Waterloo, Iowa, assignor to (Ihamberlain Corporation, Waterloo, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Filed Oct. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 233,298 7 Claims. (Q1. 63-256) This invention relates to improvements in a wringer, and more particularly to a clothes wringer of the general type commonly provided with home washing machines, the instant wringer utilizing torsion bars to establish pressure between the squeeze rolls.

Heretofore wringers having a pair of squeeze rolls between which clothes or the like to be wrung out are passed embodied many and various mechanisms for applying pressure to the rolls. Many such pressure applying means were objectionably expensive, occupied an objectionable amount of space, and in some instances embodied a great many parts. In the production of wringers, economy is necessary, and since wringers today are provided with quick-acting pressure release means as a safety feature, and such release mans as well as the essential pressure applying means require a rather large number of parts, the fewer parts used elsewhere in the wringer structure provides an added advantage. Heretofore, the most common and simple form of pressure applying means was the bowed leaf spring having its ends resting upon the bearing blocks for the upper roll, but such a spring requires the use of a top bar on the wringer frame. Other complicated spring assemblies were utilized but occupied an objectionable amount of space and were objectionably expensive. Where torsion bar pressure applying means were attempted, the same was true and most of such structures were entirely too complicated.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide a wringer that may be economically produced and which embodies comparatively few parts.

A further important object of this invention is the provision of a wringer that is simple in construction and embodies torsion bars to establish pressure between the wringer rolls.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a wringer embodying torsion bars to establish pressure between the rolls, and which wringer may be of the open-topped style and consequently of low overall height.

Also a desideratum of this invention is the provision of a wringer having a pair of torsion bars to establish pressure between the rolls, each torsion bar acting independently on a dilferent roll from the other bar.

It is also a feature of this invention to provide a wringer having torsion bars to apply pressure between the rolls so arranged that when material is fed between the rolls one end of the lower roll may flex downwardly while the opposite end of the upper roll may flex upwardly against the action of the pressure establishing means.

Still a further feature of the invention resides in the provision of a wringer having torsion bar means located in the bottom channel of the frame beneath the lower wringer roll, occupying very little space and being located entirely out of the way of the operator.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary part vertical sectional part elevational view of a wringer embodying principles of the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the structure of FIGURE 1, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

3,166,925 Patented Jan. 26, 1965 FIGURE 3 is a somewhat diagrammatical vertical sectional view taken just inside the lower roll bearing block at the outboard end of the wringer, illustrating the position of the ends of the torsion bars when the rolls are separated;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view similar in character to FIGURE 3 but showing the position of the torsion bar ends when the rolls are under pressure;

FIGURE 5 is a similar vertical sectional view but taken just inside the lower roll bearing block at the machine end of the wringer, showing the position of the torsion bar ends with the rolls separated; and

FIGURE 6 is a view like FIGURE 5, but showing the position of the torsion bar ends when the rolls are under pressure.

As shown on the drawings:

In the illustrated embodiment of vthe present invention, there is shown a wringer which includes an open-topped upstanding U-shaped frame comprising a lower channel 1, a fabricated outer end stile assembly 2 secured to one end of the channel at the outboard end of the frame, and a fabricated inner or machine end stile 3 secured to the other end of the channel, which end stile 3 aids in connecting the wringer to a driving head at the inboard end of the frame. The channel 1 is centrally apertured and provided beneath the aperture with the usual pivotal drainboard or flipper 4 in the manner known to the art, and there may be various other structural items disclosed that are standard to wringers and which will not be specifically described herein. H

Disposed within the frame is a lower roll 5 having a shaft 6, and an upper roll 7 having a shaft 8. When there is pressure established between the rolls, as seen in FIGURE 1, the upper roll rests upon the lower roll which is driven by means not shown in the drawings causing the upper roll to turn by virtue of the contact therebetween.

The outer end of the shaft 6 of the lower roll is seated in a bearing block 9, which may preferably be made of wood, but which is sheathed at least on the lower portion by a strip of metal 10, the block and its sheathing being vertically slidable in a suitable track formed by brackets 1111 (FIGURE 2) in the end stile assembly. The inner end of the shaft 6 rests in the notch of a bearing block 12 through the lower portion of which a transverse pin 13 extends between a pair of upstanding brackets 14ll4, FIGURE 2. This pin 13 prevents any vertical movement of the bearing block 10, so as to hold the inner end of the shaft 6 in fixed vertical position for connection to a drive mechanism, but the pin does allow the bearing block 12. to pivot slightly so that the outer end of the shaft 6 may be moved downwardly with its bearing block 9 in a manner to be later described when pressure is established between the rolls.

Both ends of the shaft 8 of the upper roll are journalled in bearings carried by portions of the pressure sustaining and reset mechanism. The outer end of the shaft 8 is seated in a bearing 15 suspended from a pin 16 extending transversely between a link comprising opposed arms 1717 pivotally connected to the pin 16. This link 17 forms a part of a toggle linkage arrangement by means of which pressure is applied to the rolls. The toggle linkage includes another link defined by a pair of opposed arms 18-18 which is pivoted as indicated at 19 to a fixed portion of the end stile of the wringer frame at one end and at the other end is pivotally connected by a cross pin 20 to the link 17. A cross pin 21 pivotally connects the lower end of the link 17 to the lower end of an inverted L-shaped link 22 which functions both as a handle for the application of pressure to the wringer rolls and also cooperates with the shroud of the wringer, not shown in the drawings, to cover the wringer mechanism. A trans- V 3 verse pin 23 in the lower end of the link 18 supports the lower end of a slide plate Mwhich slides along the inner face of the pressure link 22 in a track defined by spaced flanges 22a. In a notch in the slide plate 24 a coil spring 25 is disposed about the pin 23 having one end 26 thereof associated with'the slide plate 24 and the opposite end 27 engaged behind a cross member 28 of the link 18. This urges the slide plate inwardly against the outer link 22 to hold the same adjacent the other links in the position seen in FIGURE 1 when pressure is on the rolls to provide better housing cooperation with the wringer shroud.

With reference more particularly to FIGURE 2, it will be noted that when the outer link 22 is disposed substantially in the position seen in FIGURE 2, with the exception that the lower portion of the link will be inclined outwardly to the left, and then the link is forced into the position seen in FIGURE 1 bringing the toggle links into almost a dead center position, the upper roll is pulled down upon the lower roll by the link 17, and the mechanism is held in pressure sustaining position by the hooked arms 2929 of a latch 39 engaging a transverse pin 31 carried by the inner link 18. This latch is urged into latching position by a spring 32 connected to the latch and to a fixed part of the frame, the latch being pivoted on a transverse pin 33 anchored in the end stile.

When pressure is applied to the wringer rolls by the actuation of the toggle mechanism in the manner above described, the bearing 15 for the upper roll shaft is pulled down against the upper end of a pressure slide 34 which is normally urged upwardly by a folded fiat spring 35 disposed between the top of the slide and the aforesaid pivot pin 33. The end stile assembly 2 is provided with a notch 36 in the upper portion thereof to permit downward movement of the upper roll bearing. I

The other end of the upper roll shaft is journalled in a bearing 37 pivotally suspended from a pin 38 carried in the upper part of a pressure slide 39 movable vertically within the end stile structure 3. At the lower end thereof this pressure slide has an upturned front flange 40 to maintain engagement between the slide and a part of the pressure applying means now about to be described.

Pressure is applied to the rollers by way of a pair of torsion bars disposed in the frame channel 1 beneath the lower roll. One of these torsion bars, designated by numeral 41, is arranged to apply downward pressure on the inner end of the upper roll shaft by way of the pressure slide 39, while the outer end of that shaft is held in fixed position by the toggle linkage. The torsion bar is maintained in place in the channel by stirrups such as that indicated at 42 in FIGURE 2, and this torsion bar has an upwardly-inclined end portion 43 extending beneath the pressure slide 34 under the bearing 15 at the outer end of the upper roll shaft. At the opposite end thereof, this torsion bar is provided with an end portion 44 which is upwardly angled but to a lesser extent than the end portion 43, and this end portion is disposed inside the upstanding flange dtl at the bottom of the pressure slide 39.

The second torsion bar 45 has an upwardly inclined end portion 46 extending beneath the outer bearing block 9 for the lower roll shaft 6. At the other end thereof, this bar has a bent portion 47 held fixedly against the bottom of the frame channel 1 by a stirrup 48, as seen in FIGURE 2. This torsion bar 45 applies upward pressure only against the bearing block 9 for the outer end of the lower roll shaft.

The operation of the pressure means is best seen in FIGURES 3, 4, 5 and 6. 'When pressure is established between the rolls by forcing down the toggle mechanism until the latch' 30 has become engaged with the pin 31, the pressure slide 34 forces down the end portion 43 of the torsion bar 41 from the position seen in FIGURE 3 to the position seen in FIGURE 4', and this causes the opposite end 44 of this torsion bar to move from the position seen in FIGURE 5 to the position seen in FIG- URE 6, thus drawing down the pressure slide 39 and imposing ressure upon the inner end of the upper roll shaft. At the same time, contact of the upper roll against the lower roll during the application of pressure forces the lower roll bearing 9 downwardly against the end portion 46 of the torsion bar 45. This causes a movement of that end portion 46 from a position seen in FIGURE 3 to that seen in FIGURE 4, causing a twisting of the bar, and the resultant application of pressure upwardly against the bearing 9 and outer end of the lower roll shaft. The end portion 47 of this torsion bar 45, as indicated in the showings in FIGURES 5 and 6, never changes position. It is apparent, therefore, that while pressure is on the wringer rolls, any material fed between the rolls sulhcient to cause flexing of the rolls would result in the upper roll flexing upwardly at its inner end against the action of the torsion bar 41, while the lower roll would flex downwardly at its outer end against the action of the torsion bar 45.

Pressure release is effected in a simple manner by means of a pair of release bars 4-9 and 5%, FIGURE 2, extending along each side of the wringer. Each bar is mounted upon a pair of L-shaped or hell crank arms 51-52 pivoted to suitable logs on the wr-inger frame as indicated at 53 in FIGURE 2, and each bell crank member of one bar is connected to the corresponding member of the other bar by a link 54 so that a pull or a push upon a release bar will cause one of the bars to bear downwardly on the inner end 55 of the latch 3t and cause the latch to become disengaged from the pin 31 permitting the toggle mechanism to spread open and the upper wringer roll to raise, this roll pivoting about the pin 38 carrying the inner bearing for its shaft.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided a wringer that is simple in construction, embodies few parts, may be built with reduced height in view of the location of the pressure applying means and the fact no top bar is necessary on the frame. Further, pressure is applied to each roll directly by separate torsion bars, and the entire structure is highly durable and positive in its action.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a wringer,

a frame,

upper and lower rolls in said frame, and

means to apply pressure on said rolls, including a pair of torsion bars,

one of which bars forces one end of the upper roll downwardly, and the other forces the opposite end of the lower roll upwardly, and means holding the other ends of said rolls against vertical movement.

2. In a wringer,

a frame, having an inboard end and an outboard end,

upper and lower rolls in said frame, and

means to apply pressure on said rolls, including a pair of torsion bars,

one of which bars forces the inboard end of the upper roll downwardly, and the other forces the outboard end of the lower roll upwardly, and means holding the opposite ends of both said rolls fixed against vertical movement while pressure is on the rolls.

3. In a wringer,

a frame,

upper and lower rolls in said frame,

a shaft for each said roll,

a toggle linkage assembly movable to force down one end of the upper roll shaft,

latch means to hold said toggle linkage,

a torsion bar having upwardly angled end portions in the lower part of said frame,

slidable means moved by the action of said toggle linkage to press on one of said end portions,

means depending from the other end of said upper roll shaft and engaged by the other end portion of said torsion bar to be forced downwardly by said torsion bar when said slidable means bears on the respective end portion.

4. In a wringer,

a frame,

upper and lower rolls in said frame,

a shaft for each said roll,

bearings for the ends of said shafts,

toggle mechanism for forcing one end of the upper roll downwardly against the lower roll to apply pressure between the rolls,

latching means to hold said toggle mechanism in pressure sustaining position,

a pressure slide under the shaft bearing for said one end of the upper roll,

a torsion bar below said rolls having upwardly angled end portions one of which is forced downwardly by said pressure slide to cause the other to also move downwardly,

a slide depending from the bearing at the other end of the upper roll and having a socket to receive the other angled end of said torsion rod, and

a second torsion rod having an upwardly angle Lend portion to be contacted by a bearing on the lower roll shaft.

5. In a wringer,

a frame having an inboard end and an outboard end,

upper and lower rolls in said frame,

pressure applying and sustaining mechanism including torsion bar means acting upwardly on the outboard end of the lower roll and downwardly on the inboard end of the upper roll, and

means restraining the outboard end of the upper roll and inboard end of the lower roll from vertical movement, whereby when material is fed between said rolls the lower roll may flex downwardly at its outboard end and the upper roll may flex upwardly at its inboard end.

6. In a wringer,

a frame including a bottom channel and end stiles,

upper and lower rolls in said frame,

means-to force the upper roll downwardly against the lower roll,

a pair of torsion bars in said bottom channel beneath the lower roll, 1

a member actuated by said means to contact and twis one of said bars,

means connected to said upper roll pressed downwardly by said one bar when twisted, and

means connected to said lower roll to contact and twist the other of said bars to cause upward pressure on the lower roll.

7. In a wringer,

a frame,

upper and lower rolls in said frame,

pressure setting means to force said upper roll downwardly against said lower roll,

a torsion bar beneath said lower roll having an upwardly angled end portion,

means anchoring the other end of said bar against movement, and

means associated with the lower roll and forced downwardly against said end portion to twist said bar when the upper roll is forced against the lower roll and apply pressure on said rolls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,181,316 Etten Nov. 28, 1939 2,316,281 Patch Apr. 13, 1943 2,327,998 Clausen Aug. 31, 1943 2,330,481 Etten Sept. 28, 1943 2,800,011 Sibbald July 23, 1957 2,811,848 Goode Nov. 5, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 884,444 Great Britain Dec. 13, 1961 

7. IN A WRINGER, A FRAME, UPPER AND LOWER ROLLS IN SAID FRAME, PRESSURE SETTING MEANS TO FORCE SAID UPPER ROLL DOWNWARDLY AGAINST SAID LOWER ROLL, A TORSION BAR BENEATH SAID LOWER ROLL HAVING AN UPWARDLY ANGLED END PORTION, MEANS ANCHORING THE OTHER END OF SAID BAR AGAINST MOVEMENT, AND MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOWER ROLL AND FORCED DOWNWARDLY AGAINST SAID END PORTION TO TWIST SAID BAR WHEN THE UPPER ROLL IS FORCED AGAINST THE LOWER ROLL AND APPLY PRESSURE ON SAID ROLLS. 